IOOO 



Ropy Milk. 



[march, 



which the cows drink. A glass of this milk should also be 

 left exposed in the dairy. 



The results of these experiments may indicate the source of 

 the trouble, but it is as well to adopt the following practical 

 measures : — ■ 



Prevention of Ropy Milk. — i . As water is a frequent source 

 of the trouble, special care should be taken in washing the 

 milking pails, strainer cloth, &c, after each milking. When 

 thoroughly clean these should be well scalded and should not 

 again be rinsed with cold water. It is well to scald the pails, 

 &c, shortly before milking. 



2. Great care should be taken to see that no water is 

 splashed into the milk in the process of cooling, &c. 



3. As dust is sometimes a carrier of these germs, the pails, 

 &c, after washing should be kept upside down, and the milk 

 when it is in the pails should be kept covered as much as 

 possible. 



4. The rooms where the milk is kept should be well cleaned. 

 Wooden, cement, or stone floors may be cleaned with a 

 mixture of five parts sulphuric acid to ninety-five parts of 

 water, but care should be taken that this does not get on 

 the clothes of the person using it. 



5. Wooden vessels should not be used, as they may per- 

 sistently retain the ropy milk organisms. It is not well even 

 to use wooden troughs for washing milking vessels, but when 

 they are used special care should be taken to clean them on 

 all such occasions. 



6. Dilute solutions of washing soda favour the growth 

 of the organism, and it would be better to use sodium hypo- 

 chlorite or some other cleanser and disinfectant in cases of 

 an outbreak of ropy milk. 



7. Straw has been shown to hold ropy milk organisms, and 

 the custom of wiping the udders of the cows with a wisp of 

 straw before milking is very bad. After washing their hands 

 for milking, milkers should not handle straw or fodder, 

 nor should any such material be brought into the cow-byre 

 just before or during milking. 



8. The cows should be kept clean and the udders should 

 be washed and disinfected with a very dilute solution of 

 formalin, especially if the cows have been standing in dirty 

 water or wading through mud. 



